


Warm Me Up

by Taitai83



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Aged Up, Bonding, Identity Reveal, Sharing a Bed, adrienette - Freeform, cameo for Ladrien at the very end, cuddling against the cold, kinda not really, physical affection is important, ski trip, this is 9000 words of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22065187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taitai83/pseuds/Taitai83
Summary: Adrien has invited his friends on a much-anticipated ski weekend, and they're going to have a blast. One mudslide and one power outage later, and Adrien finds Marinette doesn't handle the cold well at all. Cuddling out of necessity can bring them closer than he ever expected.
Comments: 32
Kudos: 494





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a silly bed-sharing idea, and 9000 words later has spun wildly out of control. 
> 
> I don't know anything about French ski resorts, so this is based on Whistler in B.C. (loosely). Incidentally, I have actually been trapped there by a mudslide before. 
> 
> I'm posting this at 11:45pm my time, so happy end of 2019 and the best wishes for 2020 to all of you who love these dorks.

“Ladies! You made it!” Adrien heard Nino’s delighted cry from the hallway. His friend grabbed the duffel bag from his girlfriend’s hand and planted a kiss on her cheek as she struggled in the door, tracking snow and mud onto the tile in the vaulted entryway.

“Sorry we’re so late,” Alya responded, taking off her hat and shaking the melting snow out of her hair. “SOMEONE wouldn’t get out of work early like she promised.”

“I already bought you coffee to apologize,” Marinette retorted, staggering in the door with a large duffle of her own. “And I got the design submitted so I won’t have it hanging over my head for the next 3 days.”

“Worth it, I say!” Adrien called from across the great room. “Besides, you’re just in time for dinner!”

Marinette, pausing in the process of shaking off her own snow, eyed him skeptically.

“You boys cooked?”

“Ha! No way!” Nino laughed. “We got a lasagna from the Italian place in the village and heated it up, I don’t think Gabriel would forgive any of us if we burned his cabin down.”

“Call this a cabin?” Alya scoffed, looking around properly now that they had divested themselves of coats, scarves, boots, and luggage. “I think my parent’s whole apartment would fit just in this room! At least go with _Chalet._ ”

“With a view like this, I think the proper term is _Chateau,_ ” Marinette countered, wandering toward the south wall, boasting windows for the entire height of the two-story great room, the large snow-covered deck overlooking the valley and idyllic ski village spread out below them.

“Ok guys, I get it, father is over the top,” Adrien sighed, carrying a steaming lasagna towards the enormous oak table. He was saved from scorching the surface with the hot pan by Marinette and Alya squawking synchronously at him, followed by Marinette frantically digging out a trivet from one of the drawers.

“Glad you girls got here when you did,” Nino said as they sat down around one end of the over-sized table, hot lasagna now safely insulated from the wood. “Adrien’s old man would definitely have blamed me for burning the table and I’d never be allowed back here.”

Adrien glared at him as he poured out a glass of red for each of them. “He would not. Anything that happens here will definitely be all my fault, though I can’t say he wouldn’t ban you regardless.”

“Well we’d better make this weekend count, then, I can guarantee you we won’t leave this place unscathed.” Alya smirked saucily at her boyfriend, causing Marinette to mime gagging over her plate.

As they settled into their meal, Marinette caught Adrien’s eye.

“How _IS_ your dad, by the way?”

Adrien paused, considering.

“He’s… better. I guess. Physically anyway. The doctors say the pace-maker is doing its job, but he still has to take it easy.”

“Is he _actually_ taking it easy?”

“Natalie is forcing him to. She’s about the only person who has that kind of influence over him, God knows he doesn’t listen to me.” He tried to give a self-deprecating grin, but could tell from his friends’ sympathetic expressions that it fell flat. “I don’t think he really knows what to do with himself when he’s not working flat out. He still doesn’t know what to talk to ME about without photo shoot critiques to guide the conversation. I get offers of company privileges now, like this, which I guess is his way of making an effort, but I still don't actually see him.”

“Sorry dude, that’s gotta suck.” Nino gave him a sad half-smile.

“He’s a difficult man, it is what it is.” Adrien raised his glass in a mock toast. “ANYWAY, we can thank him for this cabin, but I don’t really want to talk about him this weekend. Alya, how’s your internship going?”

Alya gave a wan smile and half-hearted shrug in answer.

“Meh, it’s fine. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m kicking ass, my boss loves me, and I already know I’m going to get a job offer when I’m done, it’s just… I don’t know.” She pursed her lips and shrugged again.

“Not everything you thought it would be?”

“I just haven’t found something I’m passionate about, not like the superheroes and the Ladyblog. And I can’t keep writing about them when there hasn’t been anything new in over 6 months.”

Adrien started and saw Marinette frown at her across the table.

“You’re… SAD? That the akumas have stopped??” Adrien asked her, incredulous.

“I’m not SAD that the akumas have stopped, no!” she replied vehemently. “It’s just… ok I will only ever say this to you guys, because I can trust you to understand and still think well of me, right?”

She eyed them all challengingly, as one by one they shrugged and nodded.

“I’m not sad that Hawkmoth has apparently called it a day and buggered off, but I AM frustrated that we didn’t get any closure on the whole thing. No big showdown, no name, no motive, no jail time, no nothing. I hoped we could at least get Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities as a consolation prize, give them a proper thank you or something, you know? And yes, selfishly, give ME that big scoop I’ve been chasing since the beginning, I’ll own that. But Ladybug turned me down flat when I asked about it.” She twirled her wine glass morosely.

Adrien opened his mouth to respond but found Marinette beat him to it.

“Maybe she doesn’t trust that the threat is gone,” she said sternly. “ _I_ still don’t feel secure about the whole thing, and I won’t until Ladybug and Chat Noir come out and tell us that they have the Butterfly miraculous and we can all go home. _I_ wouldn’t tell you my identity either, and I don’t think you should be judging them for being cautious.”

Adrien agreed with her, a little surprised at the usually-kind Marinette’s stern shut down of her best friend, but pleased to hear that there was a portion of the population who understood their motives. Truthfully, he himself had hoped that Ladybug might be willing to at least tell HIM who she was, but he couldn’t fault her caution. At least she had no problem with him going out of town these days, citing the decreasing likelihood of an attack and her access to the Miraculous box for back up in case there WAS a need. When he’d questioned whether she ever got a break herself, she’d smiled mischievously at him.

_“Kind of you to worry about me, kitty cat,” she’d teased with a wink. “I’ve got it covered.”_

Adrien didn’t think that sounded terribly promising, but he figured that was as good as he could expect from someone who took her duties as seriously as Ladybug. He allowed himself to consider what it would be like if he could bring her here, either with his friends or just the two of them. A romantic getaway. But then, Ladybug wasn’t partial to the cold. A side effects of wielding a miraculous full time was taking on the instincts of your namesake, and he had learned that ladybugs hibernated in the winter. She was comfortable enough when he could cuddle her after a patrol, but a ski weekend would probably be too much. But then, maybe, with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm black cat…

“Uh oh, Nino, your boy has that dreamy smile look again,” Alya’s teasing voice brought him back to the table.

“What is it this time, bro? Thinking of anyone special?” Nino goaded him with a wink.

Adrien resisted the urge to throw the wine cork at him. The girls didn’t need to know about his crush on Ladybug, and he hoped Nino wasn’t going to out him. Nino didn’t really get it anyway, and he was sure Alya would never let him hear the end of it.

“No, actually. I was just thinking that I have the best friends and how happy I am that we get to do things like this,” he answered lightly, not having to fake the smile on his face as he looked around at them.

“Aw man, you’re almost no fun to tease, you go and say stuff like that and make me feel bad!”

Adrien laughed, and did throw the wine cork at him. “That was the point!”

The girls smiled fondly at the two of them.

“Well since we DO get to do things like this, maybe we should make a plan for the next couple of days?” Alya asked.

The four of them settled in to planning out the next three days of alpine adventures. All of them wanted to ski, of course, but there was some debate about the extent of the other activities. Nino wanted to try the toboggan track, which Marinette was adamantly against, insisting instead that she had to try the ice skating route that wound through the village and the woods. There was lots of teasing and bartering; alliances were formed and broken and reformed as they all took turns good naturedly ganging up on each other.

It was Marinette who eventually brought them back around.

“Ok, I think we have a pretty reasonable plan, right? We’ll all ski tomorrow morning, Alya and I will go together so the boys can do the terrain park without us, and then we can meet up at lunch and mix it up for the afternoon. Nino, Adrien, and Alya can do the toboggan run, and I’ll stay at the bottom and take pictures of you all breaking your necks so your families will have evidence that it was all your own faults. Then on Sunday we can ski again, and go to the ice skating trail in the afternoon. Monday morning it should be less crowded, so we can go to the village and see all the ice sculptures and get some souvenirs and whatever before we head home!” she finished with a flourish as she wrote down the schedule.

“Look at Miss Over-Planner over here,” Alya teased, brandishing her glass at her friend. “What’s plan D, Nette? You know, in case the toboggan run has a broken track that causes an avalanche that covers the skating trail?”

“You laugh, but the only reason I’ve made it this far is because I planned everything 9 steps ahead,” Marinette defended herself with her pen. “I would have fallen into the Seine long ago if I didn’t plan for the worst-case scenario, because it always finds me.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Alya agreed, standing up and stretching her arms over her head. “Ok kids, since our resident cruise director has our weekend planned out, I’m going to go find a hot bath and hit the bed, that was a long drive. Nino, wanna show me which room is ours? And hit the bed with me?”

Adrien and Marinette both mimed gagging over their glasses again.

After they’d all said their goodnights and separated into their own rooms, Adrien was confronted by the tiny God of destruction who usually hid in his pocket.

“Where’s my cheese?” Plagg demanded, hovering at Adrien’s eye level.

“I told you, I brought you a small stash, but you’re going to have to make do with brie and mozzarella for most of the weekend. I couldn’t bring wheels of camembert, I don’t have a separate fridge here. Nino gives me crap for the camembert in my room, he would definitely notice that I didn’t eat any of it.”

“Then maybe you should just eat some of it, you don’t know what you’re missing!”

Adrien mimed gagging again. “No thank you, you don’t have to transform much these days, you’ll be fine with the basic stuff.”

Ignoring his grumbling kwami, he got himself ready for bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Their Saturday went off without a hitch. The snow on the slopes was good and the crowds weren’t as dense as they might have been, Nino speculating that the threat of a storm on Sunday afternoon might have put off some of the usual weekenders.

Nobody even died on the toboggan track, though Adrien would concede that it was a lot faster and unwieldy than he had anticipated. He’d felt somewhat vulnerable flying down an ice sheet without the protection of his transformation, and demurred when Nino tried to goad him into going again. Instead he stayed with Marinette and took pictures of Alya and Nino on a double sled. As they finished their run, he heard an odd clacking sound to his right, and found Marinette huddling in her jacket, teeth chattering together, and lips turning slightly blue.

“Oh gosh Marinette, you’re freezing! Why didn’t you say something??”

“D-d-didn’t want to ruin the f-f-fun. W-w-we’ll go inside s-s-soon anyw-w-way.”

“Nope, you go now,” Adrien spun her bodily toward the café across the plaza. “Go get a hot chocolate and get warm, we’ll meet you in there soon.”

He gave a gentle push against her half-hearted protests and watched her until she actually went through the door, concernedly noting that she clutched her coat around her the whole time.

“You know, you’d warm her up better if you put an arm around her.” Plagg’s nasally voice cut into his thoughts.

“I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Marinette and I don’t have a ‘cuddly’ kind of relationship.”

“That’s the problem. NONE of your relationships are ‘cuddly’. You’re never going to be able to move on from loving Ladybug if she’s the only person you ever touch.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a black cat, Adrien. Cats need attention and _physical_ affection. You’re never going to bond to any of these other humans if you never touch any of them.”

Before Adrien could react to that stunning pronouncement, an exuberant voice called back his attention and caused Plagg to zip into his jacket.

“Bro! Bro! That was totally awesome!” Nino and Alya were bounding up to him, still clutching their helmets, positively beaming with excitement. “Wait, where’s Marinette?”

After Adrien had explained and they all had returned their rented equipment, they found Marinette in the café, looking much more comfortable and surrounded by 3 extra hot chocolates.

“Thanks M!,” Alya exclaimed, dropping into the seat next to her. “Cold got you again, huh?”

“Heh, yeah, I really have no tolerance for it if I’m not moving around.”

“So weird dude! I remember when we were kids and you were always the one who forgot your coat at the park because you never wanted to keep it on! When did you get so sensitive to the cold?”

“Oh, hah, um,” Marinette faltered thoughtfully. “I think- I think it really started toward the end of college, I was definitely a wuss before lycee.”

“Puberty did it huh?” Alya teased with a wink.

Marinette, to Adrien’s surprise, answered her with more relief than embarrassment.

“Yeah, yeah that must be it. Haha, stupid hormones. Thank god for hot chocolate!”

The execution of the plan for Sunday, after a good morning of skiing by everyone, hit a snag at the lunchtime meet up. Alya opened her phone while everyone was debating whether they wanted to do more runs or hit the skating trail early, and promptly gained the whole lodge’s attention by shrieking at the top of her lungs.

“Oh my GOD!!”

“What?! What is it?? Jeezus Alya, you scared me half to death,” Marinette flustered, mopping up the soda that had sloshed onto the table when she dropped her cup in alarm.

“My mom had dinner with Marcell Bernard, the editor-in-chief of the _Paris Times_ , and she’s arranged an informational interview for me!!” Alya squealed, not taking her eyes off her phone.

“That’s amazing Alya!” Adrien exclaimed. “When?”

“It’s… oh God, it’s tomorrow!” Alya looked up frantically at their surroundings, as if just realizing that the charming ski chalet they were currently sitting in was a strenuous 5 hour drive from the interview in Paris.

“Oh God I can’t make it. I _HAVE_ to make it! I’ll have to leave today!”

“It’s ok Alya, we can go pack and head back this afternoon.”

“No way girl, you haven’t gotten to do anything you wanted to yet!”

“It’s not a big deal, this is a huge opportunity for you.”

“No! I’m not ruining everyone else’s fun!”

“Marinette, you’re welcome to stay, you can ride back with us in my car,” Adrien offered.

“But that’s too long of a drive on a dangerous road, it’s not safe for her to go by herself.” Marinette responded.

That was a fair point.

“How ‘bout this dudes? Marinette stays and she and Adrien can finish their agenda, and Alya and I will go back this afternoon.”

“Nino, you really don’t have to…”

“Marinette is right, babe, it’s not safe for you do to that drive by yourself. And what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t support you in this opportunity?” Nino slung an arm around his girlfriend and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Besides, I’ll let you make it up to me,” he added, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Adrien and Marinette synchronously mimed gagging over their plates.

__

It was the work of two hours to get back to the chalet and get Alya and Nino packed into Alya’s car. As Marinette was wishing Alya good luck, Adrien considered Plagg’s comment from the day before as he eyed Nino’s proffered fist. Impulsively, he stepped past it and pulled his best friend in for a hug, thumping him on the back rather harder than was strictly necessary to cover his awkwardness.

“Safe drive, man, text us when you get there.”

“Yeah for sure, bro. You and Nette have fun!”

Adrien had expected a little ribbing for the hug as he pulled back, but instead Nino looked rather touched as he offered their customary fist bump again.

Turning back to the girls, Adrien found that Alya was watching them with delighted incredulity written all over her face.

“Can I get a hug too, Sunshine?” she asked, stepping forward with her arms open.

Adrien laughed and pulled her in, letting her wrap her arms around his middle. He felt the warmth of affection for his friends course through him as he gave her a gentle squeeze. Perhaps there was something to this “physical contact” thing.

“You guys be careful on that road.”

“Yes, Dad,” Alya replied, patting his back and stepping away. “You guys have fun, don’t let Marinette back out on your plans.”

“Ha, don’t worry, we’ll have all the fun on your behalf.”

He and Marinette waved them off and got into his car to head back to the village. Their planned agenda was for ice skating, though they were getting there quite a bit later than they had originally envisioned.

“We don’t actually have to go ice skating if you don’t want to,” Marinette piped up from the passenger seat. “It’s going to get dark soon, and…”

“Nope, you wanted to go ice skating, we’re going ice skating.”

“Ok, when it was ALL of us-“

“No way, you suffered through all of us tobogganing yesterday, it’s fine that it’s a bit late.”

“But-“

“Please Mari, I reaaaally want to go ice skating, please come with me?” He gave her his best kitten eyes, and she burst out laughing.

“Ok ok I give. We’ll go ice skating, you don’t have to beg.” She patted his elbow as he drove and he smiled.

“Yay! Thank you! You’re the bestest friend!”

He smiled to himself as he saw the nervous tension in her shoulders relax. She really did need to be a bit more selfish when she wanted something.

The skating trail was clearing out at this time in the afternoon, so they didn’t have to wait long to get their skates and make their way to the benches. As he was adjusting the laces on his own pair, he eyed Marinette tightening hers with fumbling fingers. He wondered if she was getting cold again.

“Have you done much skating in Paris?”

He thought she blushed a little. Perhaps she was thinking of that time in lycee when they went on the double date with Luka and Kagami. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

“A bit, now and then. Not used to doing the laces though.”

He himself had only been skating as Chat Noir when ice-based akumas had made it necessary. As the transformation took care of his skates, he wasn’t used to doing the laces either, so he figured they’d be even.

Both of them wobbled a bit as they stepped out onto the ice, though Adrien thought she found her footing a bit quicker than he did. According to the map, the trail wound through the village, with an optional loop that went through a wooded area and added about a mile to the course. Even if he hadn’t wanted to go skating, Adrien would have admitted this was an excellent activity. The golden evening light gave a glow to the ice and snow banks, and the charming buildings in the village were still draped with fairy lights, giving a warmth to the areas where dusk had fallen. It was beautiful, romantic even. Adrien sighed as he once again imagined being able to bring Ladybug here.

“What do you think, do you want to do the wooded loop?” The voice of the actual girl beside him brought him back to the present, as he realized they had reached the fork.

“Yeah definitely, this is super fun.”

Marinette peered to the right.

“You sure? It’s definitely going to be darker in there now that the sun is almost gone.”

“I have excellent night vision, I’m not afraid of the dark,” he threw her a wink, and, remembering Plagg’s comment again, offered her his elbow. “Don’t worry fair maiden, I’ll protect you!”

She laughed as she threaded her arm though his.

“I like this silly side of Adri- oh my God you’re WARM,” she exclaimed, as she hugged his arm into her side. “Mmmm, ok, I don’t need a white knight, but you can be my space heater.”

Adrien chuckled as he tucked in tight against her, and they set off down the trail.

It did, in fact, get pretty dark once they entered the trees properly, but they had glowing lanterns at regular intervals to keep them on track. There were almost no other skaters on the extended trail by this time, and they continued at a slow pace, enjoying the peace. After a little bit, Adrien glanced down at his companion, and felt another rush of affection as he observed her happy smile, the sparse light from the lantern ahead reflecting in her eyes.

On a whim, he detached her arm from his and took her hand, stretching out their arms between them. At her questioning look, he grinned, and then spun her arm over her head, pulling her into a twirl.

She shrieked in surprise and stumbled a step before regaining her balance and finishing the twirl with a surprisingly graceful glide. She laughed as she pulled out of it, and pulled herself into a spin, wrapping herself up in his arms. Surprised but pleased, he gave her a squeeze before twirling her back the other way, impressed with her prowess on her skates.

“I thought you said you only skated now and then, you’re clearly a pro!”

She laughed lightly, but averted her eyes before answering, and he wondered what she had to be embarrassed about.

“I had a few opportunities to try some new moves, and I picked it up pretty quickly,” she said dismissively before skating ahead.

They finished the route in companionable silence, taking longer than was strictly necessary, enjoying the lights and each other’s company. It was properly dark as they handed in their skates, and they opted to find a place in the village for dinner.

Settling on the little Italian café that had provided their lasagna the first night, they were able to get squeezed into a table in the corner. As they arranged their coats and hats on the hooks in the corner, Marinette looked around the restaurant with interest.

“I’m surprised there are so many people here, I thought most people would have left by this time on a Sunday.”

Adrien paused and looked around too, considering. She was right that it was far more crowded than he would have expected.

“Is there a holiday we forgot about?”

“I don’t think so? So weird.”

Their server approached them as they sat down, bearing menus and small water cups.

“You guys get stuck too?” she asked cheerfully.

“Stuck?” Adrien and Marinette echoed in unison.

“What do you mean, ‘stuck’?” Adrien clarified.

“The mud slide over the road this afternoon. Half the village got stuck here. Sounds like you weren’t among them, lucky you if you have a hotel already! Sorry about the plastic cups, but we weren’t staffed for this number of people tonight. I’ll be back soon to take your order.” She gave them a smile and scurried away.

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other, and Adrien understood her immediately.

Pulling out his phone, he called Nino. After several rings, it went to voicemail, and he tried to squelch the panic settling in his gut. He ended the call and immediately called Alya. To his enormous relief, she answered on the second ring. Adrien put her on speaker.

_“Hey Sunshine! Was that you that just called? Nino is driving. What’s up?”_

“Oh thank God, we just heard there was a big mudslide over the road, but we didn’t know when, and we were worried! Where are you guys?”

_“Oh shoot really?? We’re about an hour from Paris, safe and sound. Sweet of you guys to worry about us instead of about yourselves. Is the road closed?”_

“Apparently. The village is packed. We’re at dinner and our server said that half the people staying got stuck here.”

_“Yikes! Glad we left when we did. Will you guys be able to get back tomorrow?”_

“No idea, we only just found out about it and called you immediately. Guess we should figure that out or let work know.”

_“You guys do that, I’m going to go, it’s dark and we’re both tired and Nino wants to concentrate. Have a good dinner! Stay warm!”_

They both laughed. “Thanks Alya, safe drive!”

As Adrien put his phone away, he shared a look with Marinette again.

“Let’s just have dinner and we can figure the rest out later. No sense in worrying about it before we have to,” she supplied, and turned to their returning server to order.

‘Worrying about it’, however, became necessary much sooner than either of them anticipated. As they pulled up to the chalet, Adrien was surprised to see that the outside lights weren’t on. As soon as the headlights turned off, they were plunged into blackness.

“This doesn’t seem good,” he quipped.

Opening the door by the flashlight on his phone and checking the breaker, they quickly found that the power was totally dead. Marinette peered out the large window into the valley.

“Looks like it’s out in the whole area, there aren’t any lights on even down toward the village.”

“What, did this happen in the 10 minutes we were driving?” he asked, coming up beside her to see for himself.

“Must have. Do you have a generator?”

“No, but I’m going to tell father we need one,” Adrien sighed. “What do you think we should do?”

“Not much TO do, I think. Build a fire in the grate and call it a night.”

“It’s probably going to get pretty cold, without power we won’t have heat.”

Marinette looked toward the large fireplace in the middle of the great room.

“Pull mattresses down here and sleep in front of the fire?”

“Genius.”

Adrien smiled at her, and they both set about getting their makeshift campout set up. They quickly discovered that the luxurious king size mattresses in the main rooms were heavy to the point of unmovable, so they opted for the full size ones off the beds in the cabin’s bunk room.

Huffing to catch her breath as they finally got their beds set up, Marinette chuckled at him.

“Guess it’s a good thing Alya and Nino left, I don’t think I could handle them being all gross all night.”

Adrien laughed. “They wouldn’t really do anything with us here.”

“Alya does it just to get a rise out of me, I bet she would.”

Adrien mimed gagging, pleased to hear her giggle in response. Then he turned his attention to the massive fireplace.

“Uh, have you ever built a fire before?”

It took a while, but they eventually were able to track down the matches and get a proper fire going. Adrien brought in extra splits from the rack outside while Marinette went to change for sleep. When he returned, he’d found she had settled on her mattress wrapped in a blanket and hunched closer to the flames.

“I now understand why old houses were built with such tiny rooms,” she commented while he stacked the logs. “This huge room is going to be impossible to keep warm with just a fire.”

“Are you going to be ok tonight?” Adrien looked at her with concern.

“Nothing we can do about it. I have my coat, and I’m warm enough close to the fire, I’ll be fine,” she shrugged dismissively.

Adrien excused himself to get ready for bed himself, and Plagg took the opportunity to cover his own priorities.

“Without power, how will my cheese stay at the right temperature?”

“Plagg, it is literally already 50F in here, and it’s only going to get colder. Your cheese is going to be fine without the fridge.”

“No, it’s not! If it gets TOO cold all the lovely bacteria will go dormant! Cheese is RUINED if it gets too cold!”

Adrien stared at him for a moment.

“Then go figure out how to get the power back on, I don’t have any control over the weather.”

They had stoked the fire well and settled down to sleep, Adrien grabbing another blanket for Marinette when it became clear that hers wasn’t going to be sufficient. He fell asleep quickly, but was roused after what felt like a short time by an odd chattering noise.

Blearily, he sat up and looked around, noting how cold the room had become. That tipped him off that the fire had died, and as his senses came back to him as he woke up properly, he realized that the chattering noise was coming from Marinette on the mattress beside him.

Scrambling over to her, he saw that, despite being tucked as much into both blankets and her coat as she could be, she was shivering violently.

“Marinette! Marinette, wake up!”

She didn’t respond.

“Plagg!” Adrien hissed, his kwami emerging from his own pile of blankets in response. Upon seeing Marinette, his face turned serious.

“Plagg, why is she like this? Is she ok? It’s cold, but it’s not sub-zero or anything, why won’t she wake up?”

Plagg gave him a look he couldn’t interpret, like he was trying to decide something.

“She must just be really sensitive to the cold,” was all he finally said. “If she’s so cold she’s not responding, you’re going to have to warm her up. Start the fire again and then you should cuddle her like you do with Ladybug.”

Adrien froze. While this was a serious situation, it seemed like it was crossing several boundaries to cuddle his friend in her _bed_ without her permission. He got to work on the fire, figuring maybe he’d be lucky enough that that would suffice, and he wouldn’t have to do something that she might be uncomfortable with. But with the fire once again burning merrily in the grate, it was clear that Marinette was still not going to be warm enough.

Plagg was back at his side as he attempted to wrestle himself under the blankets. The mattress wasn’t really big enough for two people, but he supposed since he was supposed to be warming her up, it wouldn’t matter that he was going to have to be right up against her.

“You’re going to want to transform, the purr is the best way to warm up… ladies”

“What?? I can’t transform! What if she wakes up?”

“Trust me kid, if she’s this cold she’s not going to wake up. Chat Noir is a better heater than Adrien.”

Adrien hesitated.

“Ok, but if I fall asleep, detransform me after a few hours. We can’t take a chance that she finds Chat Noir up here.”

He called for his transformation and wrapped himself around the shivering girl, mindful of his claws on her clothes. He was surprised by how comfortable she felt in his arms, nestled neatly under his chin as though she belonged there. He felt warmth spread through him as he held her, and again thought of Plagg’s comment that he needed more physical touch in his life. In just the last day that he’d allowed himself affection with his friends, he felt more connected to all of them. He had to swallow back the bitter thought that his father’s constant demands about _image_ had deprived him of that. He tried to shake it off, he was here now, hugging his friend. Though he could feel the violence of her trembling lessen, she was clearly not warming up properly.

Chat concentrated on how nice it felt to be able to wrap his arms around her, the way her body fit perfectly into his as he curled around her, the soft feel of her hair against his neck and chin. Inhaling deeply to calm down properly, he focused on the sweet smell of her shampoo. As his body settled, his happy focus brought out the purr in his chest. Once the rumbling started, he could feel the warmth spread through his body, and could tell that Marinette felt it too, by the way her shivering lessened. After several minutes, she stilled all together, and his purr deepened as she took a deep shuddering breath that shifted into a snore. He let himself drift off to sleep again too, still purring.


	3. Chapter 3

Adrien felt himself pulled from sleep almost literally, by someone tugging on his arms. Blinking his eyes open a crack, he saw the dawn filtering in through the large windows on the south wall, and blearily wondered what time it was. The tug on his arms intensified, drawing his attention to the stirring girl he was still holding in them, as she tried to roll over. Suddenly far more alert, he released his hold on her and craned his neck to look over at the fire. Shoot, it had gone out again, though luckily it seemed that his body heat had sufficed to keep their nest warm. With a quick spike of fear, he glanced down at his torso, and felt relief course through him as he noted his gray sweatshirt rather than the black of his transformation.

He craned his neck again to look for Plagg, but before he could hiss out a call, Marinette stirred again and blearily opened her own eyes. He was stunned to see how blue they were, shining in the early morning light as consciousness returned to them. He supposed he had never seen them this close up before, to have missed the little flecks of gold that lined her iris. Her pupils dilated in confusion as she registered his presence.

Oh, right.

Adrien cleared his throat.

“Uh, hi, good morning…” he faltered.

“Adrien?” she blinked up at him, eyes widening comically.

“Yeah, hey, sorry about… this,” he started again. “The fire had gone out and you were shivering _badly_ and I couldn’t wake you up to get warm enough, and I figured body heat was probably the best bet after starting the fire again, but I couldn’t exactly ask your permission, but it seemed pretty dire so I hoped you wouldn’t mind, and I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable but it… it was bad.”

Her eyes softened during his ramble and she patted his arm awkwardly under the blankets.

“Hey, it’s ok, thank you for keeping me warm, I’m sorry I worried you.”

She rolled onto her back and peered at the empty grate.

“Brrr, it IS cold in here,” she muttered, burrowing into the blankets as much as she could.

“I’ll get the fire going again.”

Adrien crawled out of the little bed and got to work on their only source of heat. By the time he turned back to Marinette, she was shivering again.

“Oh gosh, Mari, are you ok?”

“I’ll-l-l b-be fine, now th-that the f-fire is g-going,” she stuttered out, still pulling the blankets up to her nose.

“Scoot over, I can warm you up again.”

He faltered when he saw her eyes widen again.

“I-I mean, if you want, I can-“

“Yes, p-p-please,” she replied through chattering teeth, shifting toward the side of the mattress.

Adrien slid under the blanket, and to his delight, she snuggled into his arms again.

“How do you look so perfect 5 minutes after waking up?” she grumbled, peering up at him. “It’s not fair, us mortals can’t compete.”

He chuffed in surprise.

“I don’t think-“

“Don’t even start, you have bed-head but you manage to make even that look perfect.”

His heart warmed at her lighthearted teasing.

“Well, I think you look pretty perfect yourself, Mari, but thank you.”

He pulled her tighter into his arms, and she squeezed him back.

“Can I ask-“ she faltered.

“Go ahead?”

“It’s just… you were so worried that you’d made ME uncomfortable but… you’ve never been particularly affectionate. PHYSICALLY, that is. But yesterday you started giving Nino and Alya hugs, and me too, and then you cuddled with me all night so I’d be warm, and I’m just worried that you’ve been putting yourself out for our benefit, while making YOURSELF uncomfortable. I appreciate the help last night, believe me, but-“

“Mari, it’s ok,” he answered, squeezing her again in assurance. “It’s… it’s not that-“

“It’s ok,” she responded quickly. “You don’t need to explain yourself, I just-“

“No, no, really. It’s just hard to put into words, you know?”

He paused, then continued.

“When my mom was alive, she hugged me all the time. She and I were very affectionate, physically. But my dad never was, you know? After she died, I never really- I didn’t have that kind of relationship anymore. And my dad was so focused on _image_ , it would have been odd to hug anyone at any of the events that he held, even the people I’d known a long time, but I didn’t really get to go out apart from that.”

Adrien had to pause a moment, unexpectedly choked up. Swallowing back the lump in his throat as Marinette squeezed him again in assurance, he continued.

“I just… I got out of the habit of it, you know? And I didn’t even realize it, until recently a friend made a comment about me not connecting properly with people because I don’t touch them. It struck a nerve, so I thought… I thought I’d give it a try.”

All the air was forced out of his lungs as Marinette suddenly clenched her arms around him in a vice grip.

“Any time you want a hug, you come to me. Or Nino or Alya. But mostly me.”

He thought he heard her choke back a sob.

“ANY. TIME,” she continued. “You hear me?”

“Yes ma’am,” he answered with a chuckle. “Thanks Mari, I’m alright, I have been enjoying the hugs though.”

He gave her another squeeze and felt her smile against his chest.

He appreciated again how neatly she fit into his arms, and then he noticed it.

“Hey, you’re not shivering anymore, you warm enough now?”

“Oh, I guess! You’re an excellent heater, I’m going to ask YOU for hugs all winter.”

He smiled into her hair.

“Anytime.”

They got themselves up and dressed as best they could in the freezing house, and drove into the village to see what they could find out about the road. Adrien noticed that the power seemed to still be out in most of the village and surrounding areas.

The police officer at the village information center informed them that the road was still closed and was likely to remain that way through tomorrow. The power outage had been caused by a separate mudslide near the first one, and the complications in reaching the site accounted for the prolonged outage. Only a few of the hotels had their own generators, and those were overrun with people looking for heat.

“Is there a back way to get around the slide?”

“There is, but it will take 10 hours of driving, minimum, and in the winter you really shouldn’t attempt it unless you have a high suspension and four-wheel drive,” the gruff gentleman advised him. “Unless you’re prepared to get stuck, I wouldn’t advise it.”

Adrien shared a grim look with Marinette as they turned away, aiming to wait for seating at one of the few restaurants with power.

“It’s not looking good for getting out of here or having heat,” Adrien commented. “Are you going to be ok in this cold?”

“I’m going to have to be I suppose,” she replied, then frowned thoughtfully. Adrien briefly wondered if she had some kind of solution working in that miraculous brain of hers, as her plans always had a penchant for working out.

But after a moment, she seemed to slump.

“Not like there’s anything we can do about it,” she gave a forced smile. “I’ll be warm enough if we move around, want to try cross-country skiing this afternoon? We might as well enjoy being stuck here.”

As they trudged back into the cold cabin at dusk, carrying their take-out dinner, Adrien looked again at Marinette with concern.

“Let me get the fire going.”

She gave him a wan smile.

“Best we can do.”

As they moved through their meal, picnicking in front of the warmth in the grate, Adrien grew uneasy about the night before them. The fire wouldn’t last the whole night, not without frequent tending, and the night before had made it clear that Marinette would freeze without the warmth. As he cleared their boxes, he wondered if she would be comfortable cuddling again. It seemed like a lot to ask to share a bed for the whole night, even after their talk this morning. But still-

“Adrien?”

He looked up at her wavering tone. She was eyeing him nervously, holding a blanket she was adjusting on her bed.

“Would you-“ she faltered. “Would you be willing to sleep with me again? For warmth?”

Adrien shifted sleepily against the weight pressed into his shoulder and side, smiling to himself as that weight shifted herself to wrap her arm over his chest. Her dark hair shone in the dim light and he let his happiness in her affection wash over him as he squeezed her gently. She responded by poking him in the ticklish spot on the side of his ribs.

“Turn off the purr, kitty cat. Pillows aren’t supposed to vibrate.”

He chuckled and pinned her arm to stop the offense.

“You’d regret it, my Lady, the purr is what makes my heater run.”

Ladybug huffed and rolled to her side, and, still half asleep, he followed to wrap himself around her instead.

When Adrien woke up he was surprised to find the fire already burning well and the bed empty of his cold-blooded friend. Craning his neck to look around the brightening room, he spied her sitting with her back to the fireplace, studying him. She seemed to come out of her thoughts when he caught her eye, and she gave him a smile, though it seemed a little forced, and she looked away quickly.

“Hey, you sleep ok? Warm enough?” he asked her.

“Oh yes, yes fine! Thank you!”

Her voice was a pitch too high and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. Adrien felt fear and panic rising up in his chest. Had he done something to make her uncomfortable? Had his hands wandered in his sleep. Mortification and guilt settled in his gut as he watched her busy herself with nothing while he extracted his legs from the blanket. What had he done?

“Mari, are you ok?”

“Yep! Yep just great!”

He couldn’t take it. This was reminiscent of their lycee days, when he was so socially awkward that Marinette could barely stand to be around him. The idea that he could have wiped out 8 years of friendship with one clumsy night horrified him. He had to make it right.

“Marinette, please.” His voice cracked a little bit, and he held his hands out placatingly, begging her to let him in again. “I don’t know what I did last night that’s making you so uncomfortable, but please tell me so I can apologize. Please.”

She whirled in alarm at his pleading, eyes widening as if she hadn’t expected him to react.

“Oh Adrien, no! No, you didn’t do anything! Well, you did, but- not like that! Not bad! Not anything bad! It’s just… I… and you said…”

She cut herself off and studied him with wide eyes, brow furrowing as though she were trying to see past his skin. All he could do was wait.

Finally, she spoke again.

“Ok. Ok, I have a question to ask you. And… please, I’m begging you, please answer it honestly? Even if you don’t want to? And then, don’t ask follow up questions? Well, maybe, depending on what your answer is, but if it’s no then you can’t-“

“Mari?”

“Yeah?”

He waited. She waited too.

“What’s your question?” he asked after a moment.

His mind raced through every possible version of “ _are you a pervert_ ” that he could think of. _‘How often do you sleep with women? Do you grope all your friends? Do you do XYZ to every girl you’ve ever hugged? Why-“_

“Are you Chat Noir?”

Adrien blinked at her expectant, terrified face, his internal monologue silenced abruptly. The air between them seemed suddenly thick, the pregnant silence stretching the passing moments into infinity. Her eyes were widening more by the second.

“Wh-Why are you asking me that?”

“I said no follow up questions!” she squeaked. She managed to sound both terrified and authoritative at the same time. “Please, answer me!”

He continued to stare at her for some moments, but it was clear that she was mostly looking for confirmation of what she already knew, though it terrified her.

He sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat.

“Yes,” he muttered, scrubbing his face with his hands. “But Mari, you CAN’T-“

“Oh, thank GOD!” she shrieked, and before Adrien could even look up at her, she had tackled him in a hug so fierce she knocked them both back onto the mattress he had just escaped from.

“Marinette,” Adrien choked out as he struggled to get air back into his lungs. “What-?”

She pulled up to look at him, her bright blue eyes shining in the early morning light, tears forming in the corners as she gave him a watery smile. He was just about to smile back when she smacked him upside the head.

“THAT is for answering me, you dumb cat!” she muttered, before throwing herself back on top of him in another fierce hug.

Utterly bewildered, Adrien tentatively wrapped his arms around her.

“But- I mean, you KNEW. And Mari, you CAN’T tell anyone, Ladybug and I aren’t ready yet, in case-“

“Oh I know, Chaton.”

That nickname stopped him dead.

He supposed she could feel his heart stop and then stutter into rapid fire, because she sat up enough to give him a smirk that he would know anywhere.

“My- my lady?”

His eyes were wide enough to be going dry but he couldn’t bring himself to blink, not when the look she was giving him was so _Ladybug_ that he could imagine the spotted mask over her eyes without trying.

“Got it in one, kitty cat.” She sat up properly, leaving him prone on the mattress beside her.

“I’m SO relieved,” she continued. “I’ve been cold, but I’ve been super worried about Tikki. Plagg?”

She looked around and smiled as the little black bane of his existence emerged from a pile of blankets near the fire.

“I’m already on it, Pigtails,” he assured her, as he dove back into the nest, where, Adrien realized, Tikki must be trying to keep warm.

As Marinette turned back to smile down at him, Adrien felt himself come back to life. With a surge of joy, he launched himself off his back and tackled her backwards instead, gleefully reveling in her yelp of surprise.

“My Laaaaaady,” he crowed, happily nuzzling his head into her neck. “I can’t _believe_ you outed us! It wasn’t even me!”

“It was totally you, kitty. I woke up and _Adrien_ was _purring_. I had thought I was hugging Chat when I was still half asleep.”

“You’re taking this remarkably well.”

“I had a solid hour to freak out before you woke up. Now I’m just relieved, because we can go home.”

That was not what he expected her to say.

“Wait, what? We can? How?”

She pushed him back and sat up.

“Silly kitty, you don’t think Ladybug would leave Paris without a way to get back quickly do you?”

She pulled a familiar pair of spectacles out of her pocket.

“I had debated using _voyage_ yesterday, but there was no way I’d be able to explain disappearing, and I couldn’t very well show these to Adrien Agreste. But _Chat Noir_ is another story.”

He looked at her in wonder.

“But wait, how will we explain to people at home how we got back? They know the road is closed.”

“We drove around the back way,” she replied. “You’re a hero and drove extremely well all night, and I will be making you dinner for a week to make up for it.”

Adrien couldn’t fight the grin growing over his face.

“My Lady, are you asking me out?”

“Don’t push your luck, kitty,” she replied, but the smirk on her face lightened her tone.

They packed quickly, not wanting to linger in the cold house. As they settled the last of their luggage in the car, Marinette placed the spectacles on her nose.

The smarmy horse kwami, Kaalki, appeared.

“Greetings guardian Marinette,” he drawled with a bow.

She gave him a smile, and then “Kaalki, full gallop!”

Adrien realized he was disappointed that his first time seeing her transform was not into Ladybug, but then that thought was banished as he eyed her suit.

The majority was a creamy pale yellow color, ending in knee high black boots and elbow length black gloves. Her hair was down, lengthened to be down her whole back, flowing around her as the magic abated. When she looked up at him, he was relieved to see her eyes remained as bright blue as ever. She blushed as she caught his eye.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

He blinked. He must have been staring. Then he grinned.

“ _Neigh_ -ver, my Lady,” he teased. “You’re a- _mane-_ zing, I’m _dun_ for.”

“Oh my God, I’m going to have to deal with this from you as Adrien now,” she muttered, but he thought he spied her fighting a grin as she turned away. “Let’s go home. _Voyage!_ ”

A portal opened in front of them, but as they climbed into the car, Adrien hesitated.

“Uh, where are you having us come out?”

“There’s a forest road about 2 hours from Paris that’s well hidden. Don’t worry kitty, I always have a plan.”

He smiled at her and gently grasped her hand over the console, placing an affectionate kiss to the back of it.

“I’m neigh-ver worried, my Lady,” he replied, as he put the car in gear.

“You already used that one, do better.”

He threw his head back and laughed as they left the cold mountain behind them.

A few weeks later, when Alya claimed the credit for Marinette and Adrien _fiiiinnally_ getting it together and realizing they were meant for each other, neither of them felt it necessary to argue the point.


End file.
